Pressure On Bob

By : Mike Rifkin

With their victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday the Florida Panthers were the first team in the NHL to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Panthers have made the playoffs for the third consecutive season, but the team has not won a playoff series since 1996 where they lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. 

The Panthers have loaded up on talent to gear up for a run at the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. They acquired former Flyers Captain Claude Giroux and Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot  at the trade deadline. Since the trade Giroux has yet to score a goal but has seven assists and is a  Plus five. Chiarot has one goal and three assists in seven games. Chiarot will be asked to do a little bit more with an injury to Aaron Ekblad. Former third overall pick Jonathan Huberdeau is in the conversation for the Hart Trophy with 24 goals and a franchise record 97 points so far this season. Two-way Center Aleksander Barkov has 33 goals and 72 points in 56 games so far. Barkov is also always in the conversation for the Selke Trophy for best defensive forward. 

With all of this talent the Panthers are one of the legit Stanley Cup contenders, but they need their 10 million dollar a year goalie to be huge. I don’t believe there is a player under more pressure this playoff than Sergei Bobrovsky. Bobrovsky so far this season has a record of 33-6-3 with a 2.64 goals against average a.914 save percentage and three shutouts. Bobrovsky, a two time Vezina Trophy winner has struggled in the playoffs with a 13-23 record, 3.24 goals against average and a .899 save percentage. In his two playoffs with the Panthers Bobrovsky has a 2-5 record 3.80 goals against average and .880 save percentage. With Spencer Knight ready to take over the net it is very important for Bob to have a good playoff run not only for himself but because the Panthers are good enough to win the Stanley Cup.